License compliance guide

How to ensure your The Foundry software complies with our license conditions

The software you invest in is crucial in allowing you and your workers to be more efficient and productive. Your customers will expect their work to be carried out on licensed software, as they entrust you with their Intellectual Property (IP).

Software is a valuable company asset, which needs to be managed effectively in order to achieve and preserve its full value. If poorly managed it can lead to the installation and use of unauthorized software, commonly known as software piracy. This exposes your brand both legally and ethically.

The high volume of freelance and contract workers within the VFX industry, along with a rise in flexible work patterns and home working, can be a challenge when trying to keep on top of software compliance. However, with the continued rise in customers’ expectations ensuring only authorized software is used on their projects, it’s important that your company hold active licenses for all software you use. Imagine if your customer found out that in order to save costs you had exposed their files to unlicensed software and still charged them commercial rates.

Typical examples of illegal use include:

Short peaks in workload, when cracked copies are installed to “get the job done”. Remember, you can rent software for such situations via our web site.

When a contractor uses an illegal copy of software whilst working on your project, but still charges you the full rate.

When maintenance has lapsed but a cracked copy is used in order to use the latest functionality, in the mistaken belief that having a license for an earlier version will suffice.

If you’re concerned that an organization or individual may be using unlicensed versions of The Foundry software, please click here to report software piracy.

The benefits of license compliance

There are multiple benefits to you and your business in holding up-to-date and authorized software licenses. These include:

Immediate access to upgrades through our maintenance program, as well as ongoing bug fixes, updates and beta versions.

Direct link to The Foundry support team, helping ensure you use our software as effectively as possible. IT security is not compromised, as you know what software is used where.

Confidence that you are not using software that has been tampered with by a third party or has any unauthorized export capability.

Ability to budget strategically as you know which IT tools are required.

Trained, competent and loyal staff, able to leverage the benefits of the software and feel their work has value.

Happy customers as their work is created on a solid and respected base, using legitimate assets.

Excellent PR for your company, as you support ethical and legal values, helping develop a culture of transparency and accountability.

No fear of a license audit, raid or legal exposure due to your name coming up in our license searches.